Bhubaneswar: A monocled cobra, considered one of the most venomous snakes in the world, was saved from certain death by a rescuer from the Snake Helpline and residents of the Moonstone Valley Apartment in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Friday morning.
Nearly half of the body of the four-feet-long snake was stuck inside an abandoned iron angle, used in transformers, when rescuer Arun Kumar Baral reached the spot. The snake could neither move forward nor back. Baral had been alerted by concerned residents of the Apartment.
The only problem was that the the snake could not be pulled out without causing considerable damage to it. It was not possible to carry the heavy angle with the snake trapped inside to another location. Finally, Subhendu Mullik, general secretary of the Snake Helpline also reached the spot to help Baral.
However, there was little they could do. They could not cut through the iron to free the snake. Finally, Apartment residents went to an iron fabricator’s shop and fetched Ambuj Jena. He came armed with an electric saw to cut through the angle.
After Jena began his work, it was realised that the heat generated would be tremendous and cause harm to the trapped animal. Residents took turns to pour water on the angle to keep it cool, even as Baral held on to the trapped snake’s head.
The operation lasted nearly 30 minutes. Finally, the snake was brought out from what would have turned into its deathtrap. Baral set it free for a while to check if it was fit after the trauma it had undergone. After ascertaining that the snake was moving around normally, Baral bagged it. The monocled cobra was later released at its natural habitat, at a considerable distance from human habitation.
